10 Actors Who Confirmed They Were Almost Batman

5. Eion Bailey - Batman Begins

Freddie Prinze Jr Batman The Dark Knight
HBO

Christian Bale was the lucky chap who ended up playing Batman in Christopher Nolan's epic Dark Knight trilogy, but he didn't secure the role without enduring a bit of friendly competition. In fact, at the same time that Nolan was screen-testing Bale, he was also doing the same with other actors.

One of these was Eion Bailey, who most people will recognise from his role in 2001 miniseries Band of Brothers. Bailey came surprisingly close to landing the part, and got so far into the casting process that he actually got to wear the cape and cowl while auditioning for the filmmakers.

Footage from this audition even made its way online, and upon watching Bailey's performance, it's clear that he wasn't the man for the job. His Bruce Wayne was decent but his Batman was quite underwhelming, and it's hard to picture him pulling off Bale's fierce take on the character.

Still, Bailey has a claim to fame that few will ever achieve: he got to wear an official Batsuit. Can't really complain about that.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.